Sister wins citizenship for brother killed in Korean War

November 02, 2003

ORLAND PARK — Mary Doody of Orland Park waited a long time--more than 50 years to be exact--to have her brother, an Irish immigrant who was drafted into the U.S. Army and killed in action in the Korean War, recognized as a U.S. citizen.

On Thursday, after nearly 10 years of writing and pleading with politicians, veterans groups, military brass and government bureaucrats, she completed her mission. Her brother, Michael Fitzgerald, was granted what he had wished for and, undoubtedly, would have achieved had he lived.

In ceremonies at the Capitol and the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the 78-year-old Doody received a certificate granting posthumous citizenship for her brother, an Army medic killed at the age of 23 in heavy fighting in Korea on Aug. 18, 1951.

Joining her were surviving family members of 27 other Irish veterans who died in the Korean War but had been denied citizenship until now.

"It never felt right that he didn't have his citizenship," said Doody, who was filled with emotion during the ceremony, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Now, he finally has what he so richly deserved."

Doody, who immigrated here in 1947 shortly after her brothers arrived, was a chief catalyst behind enactment last year of the U.S. Citizenship Restoration Act. The law, passed after a handful of senators and representatives took up Doody's cause, allows for granting posthumous citizenship to non-citizens who died as a result of U.S. military service during a military conflict.